Auto financing

[jencz]

Hello everyone,

I have decided to turn my car in. I am so upside down, the car has high miles (thanks to my job and all this driving) and still have 4 more years of expensive payments. I would like to buy something reliable as I drive a lot for my work but don't know where to turn for financing.

I have spoken with 722 redemption, they called me about a month ago saying I was approved for a $418 monthly payment (have no idea the loan amount~wierd). At that time I thought the whole thing was a no go as I have 2 cars financed with a credit union and was told they can be difficult (cross collateral). Spoke with my credit union the other day, they are going to let me surrender the car and not roll the debt unto the other loan.

My question is this~
I have called 722 twice in the past 2 days and they are not returning my calls. Is there anywhere else I can get financing? And how much of a down payment should I expect? We are limited on cash (obviously).

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[fathergolf]

We used Prestige Financial and got a loan prior to discharge. They work with dealerships so we got a 2008 Trailblazer from a local Chevy dealer. The downpayment was $1000 and interest was 17.95% high but not as bad as the 722. You can contact them and they can tell you what dealerships they work with in your area. This is not a recommendation for them just advising you on what we did.
Filed CH 7 11/21/2008
341 Meeting 12/19/2008
Discharged 2-23-09
Closed 2-24-09

[jeb]

Jencz, you can sit on the car until after you file - then, from what others have posted here, the very same dealers that won't talk to you today, will be mailing you all kinds of good deals.

Another one of those "dumb" things big companies are doing.

I found the 722 people to be totally our of touch with their offer - $5,000.00 less loan amount but $30.00/mo more that present payments. - jb

[dogbone33]

Jencz, you can sit on the car until after you file - then, from what others have posted here, the very same dealers that won't talk to you today, will be mailing you all kinds of good deals.

Another one of those "dumb" things big companies are doing.

I found the 722 people to be totally our of touch with their offer - $5,000.00 less loan amount but $30.00/mo more that present payments. - jb

They send you those deals but can't get you approved!

[Nicollette]

Even though I'm in an open Ch 13, I was approved back in Oct or Nov 2008 by a finance company called Friendly Finance Corporation with 16.9 % interest. I haven't went through with it yet because I'm waiting on my attorney's office to submit the info to the Trustee for permission to incur debt. I'm not sure if they deal with your area, but their number is (800)872-2877 ext. 204 or 263.

[debtmonster]

They send you those deals but can't get you approved!

That's right!!

I spoke with the 722 Redemption people and they told me that they don't finance people with more than 1 repo. I will have 3 repo's on my credit report. Nobody will touch me after a bankruptcy.

I've been hitting AutoTrader.com almost daily looking to see what kind of car I will be able to buy for cash. Not always good pickings for $1500-4000. The sweet spot seems to be about $8000 for a very nice, used sedan. I don't want to get raped at 24% APR on an $8000 loan. I want to save up the cash some how.

I just found someone willing to sell an old '85 Astro Van for $500. It has like 60,xxx miles on it. It has an electrical short and keeps draining the battery over night. We could buy that old van, drive it for a year and re-sell it for $500 down the road. I haven't had a good look at the van yet, but will probably check it out tomorrow.

[dingdong]

Take that van down to the local community college or highschool with an auto shop program and see if they will take a crack at it.

You'd be suprised what they can do!

My friend had an engine basically rebuilt for almost nothing, just the cost of a few parts the school didn't have on hand. Cost him like 150.00 to get virtually a new engine.

It took longer than a pro shop, but he was quite happy and thought it was worth the wait.

You never know?

[debtmonster]

Take that van down to the local community college or highschool with an auto shop program and see if they will take a crack at it.

You'd be suprised what they can do!

My friend had an engine basically rebuilt for almost nothing, just the cost of a few parts the school didn't have on hand. Cost him like 150.00 to get virtually a new engine.

It took longer than a pro shop, but he was quite happy and thought it was worth the wait.

You never know?

I could be happy with that. But I don't even have money right now to pay my electric or car insurance, let alone any car repairs on a vehicle I have not even bought yet.

I am much better off with a 2004 or 2005 Hyundai or Kia at this point. Even when those cars fall apart, the drivetrains are usually okay.

[jencz]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback.

Fathergolf~I did call Prestige Finance and they approved us for $450 a month with 17% interest, way better than the 24% the folks at 722 wanted to charge!

I even went and looked at cars last night but the dealership kept trying to talk me into cars I didn't like So I walked away. I am looking at another dealership tomorrow.

I will keep you all posted as this journey continues.......

[jencz]

Debtmonster~ you may want to try Craig's list. My friend found a really nice Jetta for her son for under $4000 and said there is a lot good cars available as people are trying to raise some cash due to lost jobs. Kind of like the boat we're all in

Hope this helps!

[debtmonster]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback.

Fathergolf~I did call Prestige Finance and they approved us for $450 a month with 17% interest, way better than the 24% the folks at 722 wanted to charge!

I even went and look at cars last night but the dealer ship kept trying to talk me into cars I didn't like So I walked away. Am looking at another dealership tomorrow.

I will keep you all posted as this journey continues.......

Forget those people. Get a used, $1000-1500 car for cash now and then save up the money for a better car and bypass the financing altogether. That's what I plan on doing. They can get bent and stick that 17-24% up you know where.

All of those people are hitting us when we are down. We need to stick it to all of those ripoff banks by boycotting them. If everybody stopped financing with them, they would have to lower their interest rates.

I want to start a movement to get people to buy cheap, 2nd hand cars and not give in to the banks/loan sharks.

If those dealers want to stick you in cars you don't want, you might as well buy a $1500 dollar car that you don't want and save all that interest.

If I had $6,000 CASH MONEY, I found several AWESOME DEALS that are THOUSANDS under trade-in amount.

I found a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid for $6,000. Trade-in is $11,000. I saw a 2006 Acura RSX for also $6,000. Guy in military was selling it because he was going back to Iraq and he needed a quick sell. Both cars were in like-new condition. Same cars on a dealer's lot would easily sell for well over $10-15k. Problem is that both of these are from private sellers. You'll NEVER find low prices like these at car dealers. This is why CASH IS KING!!! Buy cheap now and get a much better car later. It's a MEANS TO AN END!

[debtmonster]

Debtmonster~ you may want to try Craig's list. My friend found a really nice Jetta for her son for under $4000 and said there is a lot good cars available as people are trying to raise some cash due to lost jobs. Kind of like the boat we're all in

Hope this helps!

I've been checking Craigslist, but you can't filter out low mileage cars for cheap. You can only do a search on price and have to sift through hundreds of low priced cars with high mileage.

I found much better deals on Auto Trader. For example, I'm seeing like 1984-1985 Toyota's for $2500 on Craig's List. FORGET THAT NOISE! For $500-800 more I could find a low mileage 2000-2005 Kia or Hyundai! And sometimes you find good deals on a Toyota Corolla CE now and then.

On AutoTrader, I always set the range for 500 miles from my zip code, then I go into options and set the mileage under 45,000, 60,000 or 75,000. Then I set the other option to be "Lower price to highest" and WHA-LAH!!

The listing then shows up cheapest cars first, all with low mileage. Those are the cars I cherry pick. I don't want some 130,000+ mile car where I will need to spend hundreds on a timing belt change or $1500-2000 on a transmission rebuild or replacement. That's why I want to get the cars with fairly low mileage so I can get Amsoil put into the transmission before any major damage has started.

You can find many 2004-2006 model cars for almost the same prices as older 1998-2003 cars that have high mileage by cherry picking with Auto Trader.

If every person put Amsoil in their cars when they were brand new and kept it in, I could buy cars with 150,000 - 200,000 miles and have no problems. Problem is, people are CHEAP and put the cheapest crap in their cars that they can get away with. They think they are saving money with cheap oils when it's the complete opposite. The money you save now on those cheap fluids end up making you pay later with overhauls or transmission rebuilds. So you maybe saved $30-40 in the beginning only to spend $2000 later. Not very smart. I'd rather spend $200 on a transmission flush today than spend $2,000 at 80,000-150,000 miles. Since many people don't keep their cars long enough, to them it's "not their problem. Let the next guy worry about it." UGH!! SELFISH PEOPLE!!

[spearmint]

Even though I'm in an open Ch 13, I was approved back in Oct or Nov 2008 by a finance company called Friendly Finance Corporation with 16.9 % interest. I haven't went through with it yet because I'm waiting on my attorney's office to submit the info to the Trustee for permission to incur debt. I'm not sure if they deal with your area, but their number is (800)872-2877 ext. 204 or 263.

I wonder what the difference is in the monthly payment between, say, 17% and , say, 6% on a $20K loan. Anyone know?

[debtmonster]

I wonder what the difference is in the monthly payment between, say, 17% and , say, 6% on a $20K loan. Anyone know?

$20,000 @ 6%
36 months: $608
48 months: $469
60 months: $386

$20,000 @ 17%
36 months: $713
48 months: $577
60 months: $497

Unless you're going to die any time soon and want a nice, new, expensive car right before you die then don't waste your money.
Buy a cheap, used car for cash and put away the $500-600/mo. away in a savings account until you have the $20,000 cash.

You need to keep re-reading this and LEARN FROM IT:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/why_buy_a_used_car_5153.htmlc

Credit is NOT FREE. Don't give all of that free money to the banks anymore. We are all supposed to be learning out lesson. Live cheap! Save your money for a rainy day.

[fathergolf]

Jencz, good luck with the other dealership. Ours was real easy to work with and they even lowered the price when I showed them another Trailblazer and another dealership with the same mileage and options.